I would like to know if anyone uses these fuels in their car. For those that have never heard of these fuels, heres a few things about them. Both of these fuels runs on diesel engines. The emissions are wayyy better than the current fossil fuels on the market. They both run on waste cooking oil. So basically, you pay way way wayyyy less than on diesel fuel. The good thing about this is that you can also go to local restaurants and get their waste oil. They will generally give it to you (unless there is a city law against that) because it costs them money to store the waste oil at dump sites.

Biodiesel can be used straight into the car, no modifications needed, however there is a process that it must go through. You need to buy a kit so that you can get the waste oil and turn it into Biodiesel.

SVO, or Straight Vegetable Oil, needs to have the car modified to run the waste oil. The kits generally costs from 500 to 700 dollars. You also need to fill your tank with diesel oil so that when you start up the car, for about a minute you leave the regular diesel on so that you can heat up the oil. After that, you switch the tank to the waste oil.

I don't have one, but I do find them very interesting. I met a few guys in West Virginia last month that were driving a short bus from Vermont to California. They were reunning straight vegetable oil! It was really cool, they had about a 200 gallon tank of veggie oil in the back.

The Path to Freedom project is more than just biodiesel, these people have converted their suburban California yard in to an organic farm. They grow enough veggies for themselves and to make their living all on less than an acre!

Dancing Rabbit is an ecovillage in Missouri. They are almost all vegan and use only biodiesel for their vehicles. Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) featured them on a recent episode of "30 Days", his new show on the FX network! They brought in two people from The Bronx to experience life in an ecovillage. The guy, Vito, quickly earned the nickname "Meato" as he turned his 30 days in to a quest to find a way to get meat.

I don't have one, but I do find them very interesting. I met a few guys in West Virginia last month that were driving a short bus from Vermont to California. They were reunning straight vegetable oil! It was really cool, they had about a 200 gallon tank of veggie oil in the back.

The Path to Freedom project is more than just biodiesel, these people have converted their suburban California yard in to an organic farm. They grow enough veggies for themselves and to make their living all on less than an acre!

Dancing Rabbit is an ecovillage in Missouri. They are almost all vegan and use only biodiesel for their vehicles. Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) featured them on a recent episode of "30 Days", his new show on the FX network! They brought in two people from The Bronx to experience life in an ecovillage. The guy, Vito, quickly earned the nickname "Meato" as he turned his 30 days in to a quest to find a way to get meat.

I saw that Dancing Rabbit ecovillage on that show "30 Days" as well. It seemed really good, except when I say that they allowed him to kill the rabbitts not once, but twice it pissed me off. I would think that they would have their rules set down, but they allowed it to happen. I was actually interested in the place until I saw that, and also the blow torch on the bug...

I saw that Dancing Rabbit ecovillage on that show "30 Days" as well. It seemed really good, except when I say that they allowed him to kill the rabbitts not once, but twice it pissed me off. I would think that they would have their rules set down, but they allowed it to happen. I was actually interested in the place until I saw that, and also the blow torch on the bug...

I have followed Dancing Rabbit's progress for years. This isn't the first time they have had hunting on the property. The community focus is on environmentalism, not AR or veganism and the community rules reflect that. It's still cool that most of the residents are vegan, though they do have their meat eaters as well.

I was very pleased though that veganism was portrayed in a good light and that "Meato" was basicly made to look the fool.

I know someone at Dancing Rabbit. She's a "freegan." And her truck runs on pure vegetable oil. She said she could hook it up to a Dumpster for fuel. I was blown away - it didn't seem possible. Is there some sort of downside to biodiesel, etc.? Or why aren't more people using it?

I know someone at Dancing Rabbit. She's a "freegan." And her truck runs on pure vegetable oil. She said she could hook it up to a Dumpster for fuel. I was blown away - it didn't seem possible. Is there some sort of downside to biodiesel, etc.? Or why aren't more people using it?

Actually biodiesel and SVO are both different. Biodiesel is oil that goes through a process so that it can be used straight, without no engine modifications, into a diesel car. SVO you can just put regular oil, however your engine needs modification. SVO also uses diesel in the beginning to warm up the oil but after that you turn it off and go on the oil.

As for why arent many people using it, I just barely found out about it recently so a lot of people have no knowledge of it. Also, you need to get waste oil from restaurants and such (which they will most likely gladly do because they have to pay to dump it whereas you can take it from them for free).

Biodiesel needs a process so that takes time and a kit to make it. If you have big space, and some time on your hands, you can make 100+ gallons of it.

Is there some sort of downside to biodiesel, etc.? Or why aren't more people using it?

Biodiesel is just coming out of the counterculture closet.

Check out the following article, there are similar projects popping up all over the country.

Quote:

Unlike conventional biodiesel production methods, CTI can use a combination of vegetable oils such as soybean, corn, and canola, as well as used cooking oil and animal fats, in a high-yield process.

Thanks to a new "green" process developed at Carnegie Mellon University's Center for Advanced Fuel Technology, a Pittsburgh-area plant will soon become Pennsylvania's first commercial producer of biodiesel fuel, a clean-burning alternative to petroleum.

Richard Jackson, president of Capital Technologies International (CTI), said the new process, which causes no harm to the environment, produces biodiesel more quickly and is less expensive than standard methods. The technology has been licensed to CTI and patents are pending. David Purta and Marc Portnoff of Carnegie Mellon's Center for Advanced Fuel Technology (CAFT) were principal developers of the new process.

Made from domestic agricultural products, biodiesel fuel can be burned or blended with petroleum in diesel engines without vehicle modifications. Certified by the U.S. Department of Transportation as the preferred low-cost alternative fuel, biodiesel emissions reduce public health risks associated with air pollution. Biodiesel is less volatile, non-toxic and biodegradable.

The conventional method to produce biodiesel often requires complicated systems, high production costs, and the use of potentially hazardous materials called liquid caustics. "We have produced a safer, more streamlined method for making biodiesel," Jackson said. "It will produce a cleaner product at a lower cost with no emissions or odors."

CTI is forming a joint venture with Valley Proteins at their site on Neville Island near Coraopolis, Pa. Jackson expects a 10 million gallon biodiesel plant to be in operation by the end of 2005. Unlike standard processes, CTI can use a combination of vegetable oils such as soybean, corn, and canola, as well as used cooking oil and animal fats, in a high-yield process.

"We can produce it competitively with petroleum diesel, and every gallon of biodiesel we produce is one less gallon of petroleum diesel we need to import," Jackson says. "It can be transported and distributed the same as petroleum." Jackson notes that biodiesel is "widely used by the U.S. Air Force, Marine Corps, National Parks Service and state and local transportation authorities."

"CTI has established joint ventures to use this process in Turkey, Brazil and Malaysia," Jackson said, "and active negotiations are under way in Ireland, Columbia, Canada, Israel and numerous other countries."

CTI, located at the Pittsburgh Technology Center, has a long-term relationship with Carnegie Mellon. The company sells pre-assembled factories to produce renewable fuels and forms joint ventures to produce biodiesel. Other CTI divisions are involved in cutting-edge research of petroleum hydro-processes, and environmental cleanup of oil spills and hydrocarbon contamination.

Also, don't forget about ethanol. It comes from corn (and other plants), and burns much cleaner than gasoline. I think its been around for 30 or 40 years (or more?), but hasn't managed to really take off yet

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